Pete's Place

[pmskaar]

Thank you very much, Chris and Hoth!

Gazza and Mark, I appreciate the information that you have provided.

When I launched my 6th Panzer at Kursk project a few years ago, I had the information as to how many tanks of each type each of the companies had that made up the battalion but not how many tanks in each platoon and how many of each type as well. I do not plan to go back and renumber my tanks but will consider the organization as shown when doing a game. Some platoons appear to be a bit larger than the standard 5 tanks at 6 but this was a time of transition so I will take that into account. I did not know that the platoons were mixed when I set about doing this but I am at peace with it.

Who knows, maybe in a couple of years even more information will be available.

[Hoth_902]

Mortis57/Pete,

Well I did it.. Could not stop y engineering side from getting the best of me. I just purchased this book.

Panzertruppen: 1943-1945 v. 2: The Complete Guide to the Creation & Combat Employment of Germany’s Tank Force
Thomas L. Jentz
page 52

The breakdown to the company level on what tank type for that year was too much for me to handle and I had to have it. Now I will try and organize me units using examples lined out in the book. There is a sense of releaf and anxiousness that comes with this new world I am moving into... LOL.

I think I will probably start my own WWII thread so that I stop hijacking your thread Pete.

[Mortis57]

I think I will probably start my own WWII thread so that I stop hijacking your thread Pete.

One last hijack! Not of much use organisation-wise but for lots of details from an engineering point you can't go much wrong with the Panzer Tracts book range (https://www.panzertracts.com/).

[pmskaar]

Gazza, Hoth - you guys are not hijacking my thread here as far as I'm concerned. Your information and observations are all interesting and relevant to the topics I have already posted. Feel free to keep posting here. Anyway, I need the attention. LOL!

I will be posting some pictures of my solo Cruisin' for a Bruisin' game here shortly. There was going to be a convention on October 7th and 8th here in the Phoenix area called Southwest Con. I was going to run a Mein Panzer game at the Con on the 8th but the convention was officially cancelled yesterday.

I will be running a game at my local game store, Imperial Outpost in Glendale, AZ on October 21st since the Con fizzled.

[Hoth_902]

Well, the book arrived and WOW.. I have a lot to digest.


Pete,

I get a lot from your thread as well. Trust me, even if I create one of my own, I will still be active in this one. Too much great stuff here.

[pmskaar]

Thanks very much, Hoth! It is always great to have you here.

Here are a few pictures of my layout for Mein Panzer - Cruisin' for a Bruisin' scenario set in North Africa. This is a solo game to prep for hosting at my local game store on October 21st. I was going to run this game at Southwest Con on October 7th but the convention got cancelled.







[/img][url=https://flic.kr/p/2p2Zwhs]

[BurtWolf]

Great terrain Pete! Looking forward to seeing sone action!

[pmskaar]

Thank you very much, Burt! I will be posting some pictures of the game in progress soon.

[pmskaar]

A couple more pictures showing turn 1 of my solo North Africa game.



First impulse on turn 1. British had automatic initiative so moved first.



End of turn 1. Both sides are now fully on the map.

[Hoth_902]

Pete,

First off, OMG on that board. Its really amazing and your pieces look awesome on them. I am slowly starting to build terrain and I can only hope they look half as good as yours. More pics of the game.

On a slightly different note. I was thinking on mixing and matching my turrets and chassis. So I have some PZIII Ms with side skirts and without. I was thinking about putting some PZIIIM with sideskirts turrets on some of the PZIIIMs without. What I noticed, is that if you put a PZIIIM turret with side skirts... on a PZIIIM without, you can't turn the turret without hitting the detail on the rear deck and the turret not sitting correctly.. So then I looked at the right turret on the one with the side skirts and noticed that it cannot rotate either with out hitting the detial on the back deck.. So in my complicated convoluted way, is it my imagination or does the rear deck detail on the PZIIIMs, side skirts or not, prevent the turret from sitting flush or rotating when its not facing front..??? Did any of that make sense?? I should reread it.. but I am tired..

[Donald M Scheef]

My first impression of the road pattern: It looks like some Nazi doesn't know how to draw a proper swastika.

Don S.

[chrisswim]

Pete, terrain board is very nice,looks great!

Hoth, makes sense if mix and match those hull/turret, on will not sir right if rotated. I do not have a suggestion, sorry.

[Hoth_902]

Chris,

It's not just that the turrets don't rotate when you mix and match......it's that I realized the the turret does not rotate on the original chassis either and wanted Pete to confirm if he saw the same thing both when the PZIIIM turrets are swapped between side skirts and non side skirts and on the right chassis.

[pmskaar]

Don, it's a lazy swastika for sure although not my real intent here. No subliminal messages are being given. Of course with road junctions, they either look like a cross, the bars from the confederate flag, a pinwheel for all curves or this.... a few curves thrown in just to mix it up.

Thanks very much, Hoth!

Since I tend to glue my turrets down, I hadn't really noticed that on some models the turrets are not fully rotatable. For me, at this scale, it is not a big deal.
The rules I use do not factor in turret facing so I don't have a need to rotate the turrets on my tanks and other vehicles. For those that do, this may be an issue but I don't know what to do about it.

By the way, I have noticed this with some of GHQ's 1/2400th scale ships. I remember putting the WWI Russian Battleship Slava together and thinking that there is no way in real like that this turret could actually rotate more than a few degrees either way. Most people would probably not really notice.

I did enjoy doing the mixing and matching on the Panzer III turrets and it does give some variety to the unit. I also did that with my Shermans and T-34s. My Shermans have several types in the unit and with some minor variations in hull - Three piece transmission vs single piece transmission for the M4A1s and later hull with a few early hull for the M4A3s. On the turrets I have applique armor on most of my M4A1s but a few with the bulged turret. For my M4A3s I have a few turrets with cupola, most without for the 75mm and also some 76mm including M4A3E8 and M4A3 76mm with both earlier and later turrets.

On my T-34s, I have mixed the turrets back and forth a bit between hulls so I have 4 different basic models for my T-34 M1943. I also added cupolas to some for more variety. My T-34 M1942 battalion is the same with 3 different hull types.

[Hoth_902]

Pete,

I like mixing it up as well, where ever possible. I am a big fan of the Panzers with the Side armor on the turrets. I think having vehicles that have difference between them is more realistic. I know that GHQ can only do so much in that regard and has to chase the money to stay viable and have there product cheap enough for the masses. However, I personally feel that GHQ is missing a big opportunity by not offering alternate turrets for vehicles. The Modern Bradley is a big one for me. They offer the Bradley with side armor plates and the one with reactive armor side armor. The problem is that they do not offer the Bradley with Side Armor plates and the sensor equipment on the turret like the Bradley with Reactive armor side armor. With that said, I think both the PZIIIM with side Plates and the one without side plate has the same issue when turning the turret. Since that is the case... then I am fine with swapping turrets. Or maybe ordering some PZIIIM side armor turrets to swap out the ones on the non side armor turret. Someone goofed on the PZIIIM and made the detail on the engine deck to tall.

As for Gluing the turrets down, I know you are right about most rules do not take the turret position into account. I have often thought about doing that, but I really love being able to turn them if I want.. Or taking them off to put a Burn maker in its place. I know, when I get older.... LOL, not that I am not getting there now, there will be a time when Gluing them down is probably the smartest thing if I can not handle the small bits that well.